(Zairyn POV)

I probably should have cared more about the fact that Humans knew I existed now. I could hear them scouring the lands nearby, trying to find me. Luckily, they hadn’t seen which direction I flew away in because of the miniature dust storm I caused when I took off, but they knew that even if I didn’t live nearby, I wouldn’t be able to go far with the sword still in my leg. Speaking of which…

It hurt like a bitch trying to take out, and I don’t think I’ll be making any more swords, or any weapons for that fact, anytime soon. Lynn always made sure that our emergency first-aid kit was well stocked, and I couldn’t be any happier about it at that moment. It took me a bit to unravel the decidedly Human-sized bandages, and then stretch them over my decidedly non-Human-sized leg. Dragons had more rapid healing than Humans, not as fast as Werefolks or Shifters or some other Otherkin, but it was fast enough that I would be okay to move regularly in about a week I guessed.

But I couldn’t wait that long to save Lynn. I needed to get her away from that kidnapper prince as soon as possible. But it was a bit more complicated than that. While the Humans hadn’t caught me yet, there were quite a few close calls. I could hear them from my cave, and it was probably nothing short of a miracle that no one had tried to enter yet.

But food supplies were running dangerously low, despite how I tried to ration, and I could no longer go to the river to get more drinking water, so I was running on our emergency water store. And our flasks were rapidly draining.

It wasn’t hard for me to admit after a day or two, when the angry red haze in my mind finally receded; I was terrified. I was scared for Katelynn, I was scared for myself, I was scared of the searching Humans…

And then I caught the scent of something that practically froze me in fear just at the thought of them: Hunters.

I knew their scent from when they were snooping around a little over six years ago, when they killed our parents. The townspeople had called Hunters to find and hunt me down.

So, yeah, I was scared. And I don’t think I’d ever hated Humans as much as this.

Then it happened. I was trying to rest to help heal faster, when I heard voices just outside the cave. I was startled, but not scared yet; no one had stepped inside the cave yet. But then they did.

“Hey, over here! I think I got something!” I heard someone call.

Now I was scared.

“What the hell is all this?” ‘Oh Gods,’ I thought, ‘The forge. They can see the forge.’

“Is this… Kate’s place? I think this thing is an ironforge, but it’s way too big for her?”

“We never did know where she lived. I guess she’s been here? But why such a nasty place?”

I bristled at the words. I know it was no castle, but it was our home, and they had no right to just barge in here and insult the place we’d grown up in. But then they found our food store.

“Hey! Look at all this! This is definitely Kate’s place, only she would need such a large place to hoard so much food. Why was she always buying so much anyways? We needed that food too, but she just took it all.”

What. The. Fuck. She bought all that food from you, fair and square! You weren’t complaining when she was handing over all our hard-earned money for your products. She never took anything from you people!

“What was that?” Someone said suddenly.

I hadn’t noticed that I had started growling in the back of my throat. It was a strange sound that seemed to reverberate in my core and pour its way out of my body. I hated them. I hated them so much. They had no idea how much my sister had to work to make enough money just to feed me. They knew nothing, but they still thought they had the right to judge. Bastards.

But I was still growling, and they were still looking for me. I tried to keep as quiet as I could, silently moving from the den room to behind the forge, if possible. It helped that I blended into the reddish rocks lining our walls. I almost made it too…

“THERE! DRAGON!” I don’t know who yelled it, but it didn’t matter. I ran in the opposite direction as best I could with my leg, and escaped into the woods. Again, almost. Before I knew it, there were Hunters. Real-life Hunters.

They looked even more menacing than anything I could imagine. Some of their heads were covered with thick leather helmets, but I could still see their eyes and mouths. Some had longer hair, some had hair shorn to the scalp. Some were tall, some were short. Men, women, some I couldn’t tell. Some had earth-colored skin, some fair as snow. But all of them had cruel-looking weapons, whether they be crossbows, knives, swords, or spears. All of them pointed at me.

I skidded to a stop and tried to curl myself inward, wanting to disappear into the earth as they slowly surrounded me. I could practically smell my own terror.

“...please…” I whispered, but I don’t think any of them heard me, because they continued to advance, slowly, drawing out my apprehension.

The instinct that helped me escape last time started to kick in again, this time faster since my wings weren’t so sore. But the Hunters weren’t going to let me go so easily. As soon as they saw my wings starting to unfurl, they started lunging at me, with various swords, spears, and even some axes. The archers nocked their arrows and set aim for me. I whimpered in fear, but then cried out in pain as the first blade cut through my scales. A long slash crossing a little under half my chest started bleeding, slowly at first, then a steady stream flowing down the rest of my belly. Arrows hit my back and legs, but they weren’t strong enough to pierce my skin. They still hurt like a bitch though.

I could feel myself… slipping. The red haze in my mind started to form again, and everything looked hazy. In a half-daze, I swung my tail, hardened over many years of metalworking, and swept some of the Hunters off their feet. I heard sickening crunches as they hit trees and the ground, hard, but I don’t think the sound came from snapping branches and moist mulch.

While the other Hunters were distracted by my sudden retaliation, I launched myself into the air, willing my wings to move for the first time. I faltered for a moment, then swung up into the air, just barely missing the treeline. Then I felt another burning slash, this time in one of my wings. A spear had partially pushed itself through my left wing. I didn’t have time to make any pained noises; I just crashed into the ground several hundred feet from where the Hunters were.

The combined pain from the sword, the spear, my leg, and the loss of Katelynn pushed the red-hot anger to a climax. From then on I only saw things in flashes.

The pain of pulling out the spear.

The fear of seeing the band of Hunters running after me.

The anger that followed.

The blood that flowed from the consequential wounds; both on the Hunters and myself.

The fleeting and stomach-churning feeling of pride and glory as the Hunters ran away screaming.

The faint part of me that rightfully felt disgusted at the pride was quickly smothered by a singular thought accompanied by fury and determination: Get back Katelynn.

I spread my wings one more time, and with a clouded mind, I propelled myself into the air, and then in the direction of the reigning kingdom of Alinvelle.